Among the Living and the Dead
by Sjezza
Summary: Naruto gets himself into trouble when he's young. Kyuubi can save them both, but of course, something had to happen. What is this? A new gift or a curse under disguise? Why is he suddenly seeing things others can't? Is he going crazy? T jus to be save
1. Chapter 1

**Among the Living and the Dead**

**Chapter 1: Simple live, complex… afterlife?**

**Author: Sjezza**

**--- **

It was a beautiful day in the Land of Fire. Also Konoha, its major city, enjoyed the good weather. Parents went to work with a good-humoured expression. Some housewives went out shopping or gathered in small groups on the street, to keep informed of the latest gossips. Or just simply 'news', as they called it. The children went out to play with other children as soon as school was out. Everything seemed normal, just like it should.

Yes, it was a normal day indeed. At least as normal as a world can be in which ninja's exist.

And on this normal day, a simple looking boy was currently walking down the street. Someone would quickly estimate him to be about the five years old.

The boy had bright blond hair, which bounced a little bit with every step he took. His deep blue eyes watched the clouds drifting by, scanning them, as if he was counting them.

He was walking at a livid pace and didn't seem to be troubled in anyway or anything in the world. He was softly humming to himself, a song he had just heard some other kids on the playground sing.

A black shirt, which was actually far to large for him, hang a bit slouched around his frame, making him look even smaller than he already was. The excess length of his shirt had been half-folded half-rolled up and tucked into his shorts, although it somehow didn't seem to make him look any thicker. His dark orange shorts were held together by a cheap, worn down belt. Obviously its only purpose was to prevent the short from gliding from the boy's small waist and making sure the shirt didn't get out of them.

Even though his clothes looked old, and far too big for the blond, he seemed to take care of them as good as possible. One could easily see, that at the right side of his black shirt, there had obviously been a large rip in his shirt. This had been sewed up with what suspiciously looked like an old wire. Anyone with at least a little understanding of sewing, would see, that whoever had done this, his or her skill sucked.

All in all, the boy looked just like a normal boy. Alright, maybe not a perfect normal boy. A normal orphan perhaps.

There was only one exception.

One difference between him and any other child that changed his whole life.

These were the three whisker-like lines marked on each of his cheeks.

They were his marks.

His curse.

As soon as villagers would notice the whisker-like marks, they would take a large step around him.

As soon as people would notice the whisker-like marks, people would glare at him or look away, as if they had seen something disgusting.

As soon as some other people noticed his whisker marks, they would take some quick steps out of his way. They would be looking nervous or afraid, as if the boy could attack them any moment if they would walk in front of him.

Here and there whispers were heard but most of them were so soft that they sounded just like hisses. Only once, the boy shifted his eyes to a lady who had whispered a little louder than the rest. Said lady had been shocked when her own brown eyes had locked with two large sad blue eyes.

They had stared at her, as if they were asking her why she had just said what she had. As soon as the sadness had appeared it was gone and the boy's normal happy smile was on his face again. It happened so quick that the woman wondered if it had just been her imagination or if the boy had really looked so sad as he had.

'He couldn't have picked that up, could he?' Without realising she had just used ' he' instead of 'monster', to which she normally referred him.

The woman just shook the feeling off and greeted a friend whom she had decided to meet with. Unknown to her, that same night, she would be held awake by doubts that suddenly would resurface.

However, it was not like the boy would get this kind of reactions from everyone. Most of the other civilians simply ignored him as if he was nothing but thin air. The younger generation didn't seem to care about him. But still the boy showed no reaction to any of this.

Most parents seemed to keep their younger children away from the boy, standing between their children and the passing boy. Later telling them not to come near that 'bad boy' in the future. Still the boy didn't seem to be affected by any of this.

Neither did he react to the change in the atmosphere he somehow caused, as he continued walking with the same smile on his face. He just continued walking, and started humming a bit louder, and changed to another song he had heard the other day. This seemed to annoy some other people only more as he passed them and here and there some real annoyed people would 'accidentally' kick or throw a small rock in his direction. But they never reached their target.

As soon as the boy had passed out view, the civilians seemed to forget about him immediately. They would just continue with their daily business, most of them talking excitedly about some kind of festival.

As the boy walked on and turned around some corners, the streets got less and less crowded and the buildings became older and more worn down.

To the right, down the street, into an ally and turning right around a corner once again, then to the left and the boy would be soon at his apartment. He would be safe there.

The blond unconsciously started to walk a bit faster, although one wouldn't notice it if they were following him. He continued humming and his smile widened when he saw a familiar building appear down on his right, down the street. Once he arrived at the old building, he opened the big wooden door and walked in, happily greeting a man, who only gave him a glare in response and headed for the stairs. The boy got into a jogging-like pace as he started running up the stairs, trying not to trip on his oversized black sandals.

Once he was at the upper level of the building he was only panting slightly, meaning the boy had quite a good stamina for his age. Most likely he had climb the stairs every day. The boy scanned the door of the only apartment situated on the upper level of the estate. Noting that he couldn't say anything that had changed he reached out for the doorknob.

The door was still locked. Good.

The boy let out a small, relieved sigh and searched into his pocket, looking for a key. The boy gave a quick glance at the graffiti on the walls next to the door, ignoring the text. He grinned when he saw what kind of paint it was, knowing that it would get off in no time. It was not like it was the first time.

Actually quite the opposite, the boy could nearly be called a paint-cleaning expert, knowing what way to clean certain types of paint the quickest. So boy didn't really mind the graffiti, as long as they didn't destroy his apartment he was fine with it. They, being the villagers who disliked him to a certain degree.

Scanning the graffiti for a second time he recognized the type of paint that was used. There was a small group of older boy who would try to dare each other to do things like this all the time. They had done it once when they had thought he was asleep, but he had actually been watching from the roof of the building on the other side of the narrow street.

He would mistake the noise for a mob and hide there, hoping they wouldn't notice the black cord running from his apartment to the other building.

It kind of hurt seeing them do it, laughing, while he was watching from a distance. He would just wait till they were gone. He hadn't taken long to realise that not interfering with these kind of things was the best. It would only get him into trouble if he did, since they would get their parents. Things could get ugly that way… Parents, the boy knew, where very protective. And children… could make up the hugest lies if they wanted.

He forced the following thoughts out of his head and put his key in the lock of the door.

He opened the door and entered the apartment. As soon as the door closed behind him, his happy smile slowly dropped. The whiskered boy didn't make any attempt to shout "I'm home!" like many people would. There was no need, because no one would answer.

Glancing around he was happy to see that nobody had been inside, since they always could break in through the window on the other side. The living room was quite bare, missing the touch of a woman, mother… or parents at all. The room, although bare, was somehow a complete mess. The fact that the room was small didn't help either. The boy though, didn't seem bothered by it at all as he walked through the piles, picking stuff up so easily, that one would think that he knew exactly were everything was.

He stepped over a big empty box, that the boy had dubbed the 'box of fantasy', from a program he had heard kids talk about once. He had tried once, but it hadn't worked.

Stupid box.

Making sure not to step on anything else, the boy entered his kitchen. His grumbling stomach told the boy that it was dinnertime. Obeying, the boy looked at the clock, nodded, and pushed a chair towards the counter.

He climbed on the chair, keeping his balance the best he could, and opened his cupboards. His eyes went over the different cups of instant ramen with a smile and took three cups out of the cupboard before placing them on the table, which nearly filled the whole kitchen. He reached for the water boiler who stood in the corner of the counter.

The boy stared at the water as it started boiling, fascinated by the process. When the little light stopped glowing he carefully took the boiler and filled the already opened cup. A smell of hot ramen filled the room and the boy smiled victoriously when he put the boiler back and took some wooden chopsticks out of a drawer. The boy took the hot ramen and, while being careful not to spoil anything, put it on the small table. Satisfied the boy pushed the chair back to the table, were it belonged, and crept on it. He moved up, sitting on his knees, so he could reach the ramen more comfortable, with his smaller arms.

"Itadakimasu" he mumbled to himself, like Old Man had once told him to do before eating a meal. The boy smiled at the memory of the old man taking him for dinner by a ramen stand, called Ichiraku, which was now one of his most favourite places. The boy hoped the Old Man would take him tomorrow again.

It had been a day before his birt- He shook his head, knowing that this would lead to unpleasant thoughts.

Instead he happily repeated the word, and started eating. He smiled with every bite he took and seemed to try to enjoy every taste so much, that it looked as if he thought it would be his last. When finished with he took the next cup, and another, and secretly another one. Stating that he would need the energy.

When he was finished he cleaned up, took a shower, changed into his night clothing and locked his door and checked all his windows. Once he was finished and satisfied with the fact that they really were locked, he climbed into his bed. Taking his stuffed toad in to his arm, he closed his eyes and waited for the sleep to come.

Tomorrow would be a difficult day and he would need his rest.

Finally, when it was totally dark, Uzumaki Naruto finally got to sleep.

---

"Get him! Don't let him escape this time!"

Naruto started running harder when he heard the shout. Which probably meant that they had spotted him and were coming closer. Tears formed into his eyes. He was running as hard as he could and his lungs were burning for more oxygen. He panted harder as he turned around a corner into an ally, hoping to shake them off. His eyes darted around, looking for any way of escape.

Naruto quickly half-climbed, half-jumped onto a container when his eyes spotted a ladder that would bring him to an upper level. People never really looked up much. A trick the boy had learned from experience. And that was exactly what he needed. A place to hide was now his priority**. **

Standing on the edge of the container, Naruto desperately jumped towards the ladder, grabbed onto it and tried pull himself up. Unfortunately for the boy, luck didn't seem to be on his side that day as the rain had made the steel slippery. The ladder slipped out of his hands and Naruto fell back down. He groaned as he landed hard into another open container, just situated under the ladder. Tears leaked out of his eyes, not being able to hold them back any longer.

"To the left! He went left!" A slurred voice cried to the other.

He tried to dig himself under the rubbish with the last seconds he had, and then remaining as silent as possible. He started breathing slower and pushed his hand over his mouth as to prevent them from hearing his breath.

He listened as the sound of shoes hitting the pavement came closer and he knew they could be turning the corner any moment.

He closed his eyes as he heard the footsteps coming closer and closer… eventually passing the container. After which seemed hours, but were in reality just thirty seconds, the drunk voices were gone. The boy sighed of relief, but didn't climb out yet. There was still the possibility that they would spot him. Ten minutes had passed when he finally dared to climb out of the container. He hated when things like this happened.

It was scary, and painful.

And made him feel hated… even more hated than he already was.

Luckily it didn't happen that often.

Most people didn't even dare to get into his range, preferring to ignore him instead. This didn't mean that being ignored didn't hurt though. Actually it hurt Naruto more than the beatings. Being seen as nothing but air cut him right through his heart. It really made him feel worthless, and especially alone. Being beaten was horrible, but in a way it also gave him a little bit of acknowledgement.. He himself even guessed way of thinking was not something you should have. It made him feel guilty towards the old man. The old man would sad if he would ever find out that he thought like that.

He sighed as he pulled a banana out of his hair.

These drunk were not really that dangerous. He knew that there were some times that ninja would appear and take them out. They wouldn't explain anything to him though.

"Why?" the boy whispered looking at the ground.

Tears started to form in his eyes. As soon as he noticed a tear falling on the pavement, he gritted his teeth in frustration. He had told himself not to cry anymore. It wouldn't chance anyth-

"Wandering around demon?"

Naruto knew that when the word 'demon' was used in his presence, it meant trouble. The boy yelped and turned around. He stared at a man, sitting on the container he had just hid in. A creepy smile formed on the man his lips. "What did I scare you? Not so tough in a child body, aren't you?" A dangerous glint appeared in the fake-happy eyes of the man. "Don't worry, you will be rid of it soon enough." As he gave a soft evil laugh.

Naruto had never really met someone who wanted to kill him yet. Beatings? Yes. Cursing? Yes, even a lot. But killing? Never. As a child he had always thought that killing was bad and that people didn't do that. Only bad man would kill, and so only these bad man should be killed too. And Naruto had never done anything bad. Even the Old Man had told him he was a good boy. So with the logic of a child he never expected them to try, because he didn't really think of them as bad people either. Stupid? Yes. Mean? Yes. Did he hate them? A bit… So dislike would be a better word.

So even without knowing what to expect from the man. Naruto could feel the killer intent directed at him. Having experience with killing intent before, he knew what it meant. Trouble.

The man stared at him, most likely considering what to do. His dark grey eyes flickered towards the rooftops as if he had spotted someone. His short black hair seemed to be moving with the wind, even though there wasn't any in the ally. His pale skin made him stand out even more in the dark, giving him a creepy atmosphere. The man gave one last glance at the roofs of the buildings and then grinned. Naruto decided it was more a sneer than a grin.

His eyes then noticed the jacket the man wore. It was a ninja jacket, he recognized.

Shit. The man was a ninja.

He felt his stomach turn as the man stared at him. He knew what was going to happen… His eyes widened with fear as he already started walking backwards.

"Run."

And Naruto ran.

---

Blood. Blood flowed over his hands as he clutched his abandon. Blood was everywhere. Another hard kick sent him flying against another tree. Little black dots flew for his eyes as he lost his focus on his surroundings. The only thing he could do was taking a large breath before he was kicked again, with a another chakra-enhanced leg, against another tree. A loud and disgusting sound was heard from the impact of flesh and a small gasp as Naruto's air was kicked out of him once again. Tears streamed over his cheeks because of what had happened the last ten minutes. He clenched his belly by the thoughts. He tried to block out his memories of only ten minutes ago, but they were already flashing in front of his eyes.

Never had Naruto ran so long and so hard. Never had he been hiding as good as he had. Never had he used so many tricks to shake the ninja of. But even doing the best he had ever done, had not been good enough to hide from a real, trained and experienced ninja.

Why had no other ninja come to help him?

Naruto had run as far as he could, even going to the forest where he knew people normally would stop following him. He hadn't taken in account, that those people had mostly been villagers, who didn't want to take the effort by taking hours to find the little demon brat, thinking that they would just simply take him another time. The ninja though, had decided to stop the cat and mouse game as soon as Naruto had stepped onto the soft grass in some clearing, which was situated in the middle of the forest.

Now Naruto was lying on the ground against a tree, the roots uncomfortably pushing in his back. He curled back into a ball, trying to hide from reality. Although he secretly knew that it wouldn't protect him, it was the closest escape the boy had at the moment. He was close to dying and he knew it. His head was throbbing and he saw his vision blurring to a dangerous degree.

'Is this how it is going to end?_'_ he asked himself. Strangely the boy found himself not as afraid as he thought he would. Still… The boy cried in his head. 'I don't want to die!'

---

The ninja sneered. The demon was being pathetic. Was this the great Kyuubi? The demon, _that_ had killed his wife, kids and whole family? _That thing _was acting like a normal boy!

'Could it be tha-…'

No. The man immediately kicked himself in his mind. 'This is what **it **is trying to do. It's a trap! Yes a trap. But that won't work. No, I will be sure of that."

He had to act now, before the demon would play other tricks with his mind.

He started chuckling madly and softly to himself.

Finally after all these years of loneliness, thoughts of revenge, and stress the man had gone crazy.

Meanwhile Naruto began to wonder why the man had stopped attacking. Pushing the last bit of his courage together, he opened his eyes and lifted his head. Only to be grabbed by his collar of his shirt and slammed into the tree, causing the boy to cough up a little of blood. His whole body ached and screamed in protest. He felt his mind leaning to unconscious.

---

In an old corridor, all that could be heard was a low loud snoring. With the exception of an occasional sound of dripping water, everything seemed peaceful.

The walls were old and dirty. Sometimes, you would see a little crack appear, adding to the rest of the damage on the wall. Only to slowly fade away again. Following the snoring down the corridor, the snoring got louder and louder.

Turning around corners, down more halls, it gave the worn out corridor the impression of a maze. Then without any warning, the hallway suddenly ended, giving space fore a huge, and then I really mean huge, cage. The door of the cage was as big as the room, separating them into two. The ceiling couldn't be seen, but instead disappeared into the darkness. Who knew how high the ceiling would be. The door from steel consisted of large thick ugly bars, that had the width of a tree. All that kept the massive tall doors together was a small peace of paper, with the kanji of seal on it.

Inside the cage it was dark. The only evidence of existence would be a small line of red glowing substance slipping out of the cage, towards the cracks, which too seemed to scar the walls of this room. Over time the cracks seemed to appear faster and faster. In response the small line of red substance became thicker. The snoring seemed to slow down, and some smacking interrupted the rhythm sometimes, until the snoring completely stopped.

"**Ah… two more min-"** the prisoner stopped his sentence before opening his eyes. Two massive red eyes radiated in the darkness. They looked thoughtfully as he sniffed around and inspected the walls. His eyes then fell on to the tread that already got the thickness of a human arm. The eyes narrowed and then thoughtfully closed, thinking. After about ten seconds they snapped open again. A low growl erupted from the beings throat.

" **Stupid brat! For once I take a little nap and you start killing yourself already!" **

---

Naruto couldn't really follow what was going on anymore. The grips on his collar got stronger and he gasped to get enough air. The man stared at him with a sick grin on his face. His eyes wide an crazy. The man had gone crazy, Naruto realized. Because of him. He tried to focus on the man, but his mind wouldn't cooperate.

"Stop this immediately!" was shouted, but somehow Naruto couldn't hear it clearly. It seemed distant.

Naruto's eyes widened as he felt a pain erupting in his stomach. He coughed up blood, which spat in the face of his murderer.

He cried out and wanted to close his eyes, but instead forced himself to look at his attacker.

Sad, scared, pained blue met crazy and pained grey.

'Why?' Naruto screamed to the man in his mind, not having the power to do so aloud. 'What have I done to you!'

Then as if suddenly something clicked in the ninja his mind, he gasped. His eyes became shocked, full of disbelieve and sadness. They slowly moved from the blue eyes down, starting to thrill more and more. They followed the source of wetness on his hand. All he could do was gasp, as if he had just found out his hand into the boy his stomach with a kunai and didn't know that he had. His hand started shaking with regret. Blood streamed out of the wound, covering the other marks on the boy his stomach with red liquid.

Naruto coughed up more blood and his breathing started to become even shorter and sharper. He gasped for more air but he couldn't get it. His body was having a panic attack because of all the sudden damage it had received. Although it was quite used to handling pain, it had never had any experience with serious damage to this extent.

More blood flowed out of Naruto's mouth and over his chin. His head throbbed and swayed. He felt his whole body going numb, taking the pain away. His eyes rolled over, although he desperately tried to keep open. But it was no help, as the boy slowly slipped into the welcoming darkness, guiding him away from the light.

"I'm sorry" He heard the man whisper. It was distant, and Naruto slowly felt himself peaceful and although he couldn't forgive the ninja completely, he took the words of the man to heart. He had never heard someone said that to him before, with exception from the Old man. Even when he knew the man had killed him, he also knew he had regretted it. Naruto felt like he understood a little bit, the pain, the loneliness. Somehow he felt that the man had been just drowned into the darkness for a long time, just to find the last glimpse of light again, before it might have been to late.

Then he slipped into the darkness.

---

The ninja stared in horror at the glazed eyes of the boy and gritted his teeth. He was a horrible person. He would deserve to be in hell.

"I'm so sorry." He said once again, hoarser this time, and closed his eyes, giving himself over to his fate. Which he knew he deserved.

"Sorry…" was his last word.

A sickening sound erupted when a kunai struck the ninja in the back of his head and ended his life.

"Naruto!"

---

Naruto didn't know where he was. He was hovering in the air, in the darkness. He didn't want to die, but with how peaceful he felt at the moment, dying might not be that bad. But even with that thought he felt restlessness inside of him. Naruto was a survivor by nature, and wouldn't give in to death so easily. So he tried to fight it, even although he didn't know how.

"**Maybe you have some guts after all, stupid brat. But let's head straight to business. There is no way I would let you die like this kit! I will not die such a pathetic death! Or any other death in my opinion." **a growling-like voice erupted the silence. Naruto swirled around, looking for the source of the voice. He didn't like it when he didn't know what was going on around him.

"Who's there?" The sound of his voice replied back, and an echo repeating it. The tenseness in his voice could be heard clearly

" **Calm down brat. I am not, or actually, cannot be your enemy in these current circumstances. We are in this together. We have a big problem, since we are both dying. You received the kunai straight in the seal. The seal has been broken, and is killing us both at the moment. For who I am, that doesn't matter now. I simply cannot rebuilt the seal from the inside out without you. You do want to live right?"** Spoke the voice with irritation and even some despise.

Naruto caught on quickly onto the hidden meaning.

"You want to save us?" He said a bit unbelievable.

Naruto automatically crossed his arms in front of his head as a burst of wind blew him back a couple of meters.

" **Of course, little brat! Now, all you have to do is accept the chakra I will send you for us to survive. But be prepared. This might hurt a little…"**

In the darkness a tendril-like red glowing substance-like light reached for Naruto. He looked at it in wonder and even with a little fear. He had no idea of what was going on. But he knew from himself that he was a survivor, and that he still wanted to live. He wanted to find some real precious people. He had so many dreams. He wanted to be acknowledged. He wanted to become Hokage so that he could show everyone he wa-

"**This is not the time for daydreaming stupid brat! We are dying over here! Accept it already!"** The voice sounded like it was in pain, and accompanied with killing intent, the message very clear. 'Hurry up!' For a moment Naruto was frozen because of the shear amount of killing intent upon him. Then as quickly as it appeared it was gone. All that was left was a low warning growl. He noticed the red glow reaching for him once again. He weighted the couple advantages and disadvantages. Actually they were very simple.

Advantage: Live ('Can't really argue about that one')

Disadvantage: Have a little pain ('Well what doesn't kill you makes you stronger right? That's what old man always says.')

So the decision was made very easily. Naruto gulped and closed his eyes, calming himself down. ' Accept it, just accept it already. Just-" His thoughts were cut of when a pain erupted inside of him. He felt like he was on fire and burned alive. He gritted his teeth as he rolled into a small ball, grasping his legs to try to keep the pain out.

---

"**What is going on? Damn, that seal is worse off than I thought. I guess I have no choice but to do**_** that**_**. You better do not misuse the gift kit, or I will personally haunt you for eternity. And I will tell you that's a loooong time"**

All Naruto could do was nod and scream. He hoped that the pain would lessen soo-. His eyes opened by the pain, and widened as he saw a blast of bright green and white chakra coming to him at high speed.

"**Don't die kit" **was the last piece of advice before hell really began.

'Hey! You never said anything about dy-'

The blast struck its target. All Naruto could do was scream out as the pain became even worse, not being able to hold his screams in any longer. His body straightened by the shock and is hands reached for his head. This was unbelievable.

---

It felt as if years had passed, when the pain finally stopped. Naruto let a small, relieved sight escape from his mouth as he went numb. All he could and wanted to do was go to sleep. Darkness was all that remained.

---

"**That was far to close. That stupid Gaki is far to weak."** The deep annoyed beast stated, as it glared at its jailor, who was currently floating in the water in front of its cage.

If the beast had wanted it, it could smash the boy into nothingness, but it knew that it would only hurt himself. Years of studying its cage and conditions had taught him that. It took a look at the remains of the seal.

Whereas the seal had first been separated, burnt and with some parts found drifting in the water it was now complete. **'However'** it thought a little worried, '**I couldn't repair it totally.' **It looked at the big slash in the middle of the seal. That was out of its limit, since it controlled its powers and such. Only a fool would have made a seal that could be changed from the inside out. And the Yondaime wasn't a fool by any means. The beast couldn't help but have a little, and than I really mean a very little, respect for the man. That of course didn't mean it didn't still dislike the man.

"**Stupid Apemonkey"** it growled.

The beast tried to stand up and stretch, but found out that it had difficulty with standing up. A growl-like groan erupted from the beast its throat.

"**Urg… That stupid brat took more energy than I thought. I might just have to sleep for a little while."** Murmured the big fox as he lay back down, and closed its eyes.

"**I better don't find you in danger again when I wake up"** it warned before it took its well-deserved nap.

Although it knew that the boy was not able to hear it.

---

He croakily opened his eyes. His head was swaying and throbbing. He found out that he wasn't even able to open his eyes. So he just lay there, resting. He was happy with the fact that the pain was finally over. The only thing that was left was dumbness, a little ache (alright, a very big ache, but that was nearly nothing compared what he had felt before) and throbbing.

'Stupid… ah whatever, whoever he is. Dying wasn't even close with how much pain that did!'

Naruto winched by his own outburst in his mind, reminding himself that the headache was a little bit bigger than he thought. 'Maybe I should just sleep for a bit. Yeah that doesn't sound so bad."

And so Naruto got to sleep, as simple as that.

---

Naruto didn't know how much time had passes, but he was slowly waking up because of some voices.

"Hey look, it's a child! What is he doing here?" said someone. Naruto didn't know who the boy was, but he didn't sound that old. A teenager maybe? Great that was just what he needed.

'Urgh.. still to tired. Have to go back to sleep.' Was all he thought, as he tried to ignore the voices.

"I have no idea, but he isn't death yet. He's still attached to his body." That was certainly the voice of a girl.

"What do you think happened to him? I bet he trained himself to death." A loud whack could be heard.

"Stupid! Look at his wounds! There is no way someone could do something to himself. Are that burns?"

"Itai! That hurts"

"Good it was supposed to hurt"

"You are so mean R-" Whack!

"Don't –chan me when you just said something stupid."

"Why not, It was just a joke! Anyway you know I don't know anything about medical stuff!"

"Whatever. But still, he is just a child. Even if he was training, how could he get in such condition?"

Naruto twitched as he listened to the argument between the boy and the girl. He wondered why they didn't know that he was the 'demon brat'. Everyone knew him like that. Naruto groaned in his mind. He was getting interested and couldn't ignore them anymore. They were most likely, by the sound of it, standing next to him, and they were loud. Too loud for Naruto's liking at the moment.

The two voices continued to argue and slowly was Naruto losing his patience. Although he had to admit that he was also quite interested into what they were talking about. 'What did she mean with I'm not still attached to my body?'

Giving up on going back to sleep and secretly curious about who were talking so loudly about him, he slowly opened his eyes.

He groaned in annoyance as the moonlight fell directly into his eyes. The argument of the girl and the boy immediately stopped by the sound of his voice.

"Hey, look the boy is waking up"

"I have eyes too you know, besides it's not like he will see us or something."

Naruto blinked as he tried to regain his focus. His vision was still blurry, but it would do for now. He focused on the direction of the voices, which was… directly above him.

He shifted his eyes and saw the shadows of two teenagers hovering over him.

"Who are you people?" he whispered hoarsely, unable to say anything louder or harder.

"Ugh… I think he can" was the only reply he got from the boy, as he and the girl looked at him in shock.

"What is going on?"

**--- --- ---**

**A/N (Please read!)**

Finally! It's out of my head! Yay! So do you like it so far?

Who are the teenagers that found Naruto?

What did the girl mean with still being attached to his body?

So many questions! :D

So few answers D:

To tell you the truth… this was actually just a try-out. So I don't know if I will continue yet.

But please **do** let me know what you think of it till now. ;) Spend a quick **40 seconds**, and you made me really happy.

**So Please Review! ^^**

And thanks for reading!

**Sjezza**

p.s. Happy Nearly X-mas everyone!

p.p.s If you have any suggestions for the story, just review. I will take a look at it!

**p.p.s**. For the ones who already read this once and got a alert. Sorry I changed some mistakes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Among the Living and the Dead**

**Chapter 2: What is going on?**

**Author: Sjezza**

**Untamabledragon144**

**Kc**

**Icedragon54**

**Conflict**

**Thanks for the reviews! I really appreciated them. **

**Please let me know what you think of this chappie eh? Enjoy.**

Silence…

"What is going on?" Naruto whispered.

He got no answer from the teenagers as they were staring at him in shock. The girl was the first to break the silence, and much to Naruto's annoyance, she didn't even answer the question.

"Is it me or are his eyes…" the girl whispered in wonder, leaving her sentence unfinished. "I've never seen that before."

The other teen didn't say anything. Instead he just kept opening his mouth and then closing it. He was simply at a loss for words.

"What is going on?" Naruto repeated with a hoarse whisper, wondering if they hadn't heard him.

He still got no answer however, as the teenagers continued to stand gaping at him. As if he had just grown a second head, five arms, turned blue with purple and green spots and… yeah I guess you get the idea.

Naruto groaned as he tried to sit up. He wanted to get a better look at them, not only their shadow. He lifted his head and prepared himself to support his upper body with his arm, gritting his teeth to stop himself from groaning. He didn't get so far however, as he was surprised with a wave of throbbing and pain. His body immediately reacted to this sensation and the only thing Naruto could do, was lie back down as the wave threw him back.

'Urg… My body feels like jelly.' Thought the young boy, as his eyes shifted down in the direction of the teenagers… where one of them was missing.

'Where's the girl?' He panicked, not knowing where the girl had gone too.

Naruto was always extra careful around strangers, and never really trusted people when he met them for the first time. Sure he was always very open to them on the outside, and even a bit on the inside too, but they had to do something to prove that they had no ill intentions or such. Although he always acted as if he was open to anyone, in reality he had enough experience with violent strangers to know how to stay on guard. As long as they would belief he was open to them, they would be less careful to hide their intentions.

"Wher-"

Naruto had wanted to ask the boy where the girl had gone too, but as soon as he whispered his first word, he knew something was wrong.

His throat hurt and felt far too dry for his liking. A certain annoying feeling started to build up in his throat. Then he felt his back tense as preparation for the action that was about to take place, and felt himself take a large breath.

His eyes widened in error. He knew that if he did that with his throat in such a state, it would hurt. A lot.

Unfortunately he couldn't hold it back. And poor Naruto started coughing, totally unprepared by the pain it caused.

The shock of the sudden pain only made it worse, and with a sharp breath Naruto has only some seconds to give some curses, before more followed.

His coughing fit forced himself to sit up, so that he could get enough air. This combined with the fact that he couldn't escape the wave of dizziness that washed over him once again wasn't a nice experience.

Tears started to escape from Naruto's eyes as he continued his coughing fit. His shoulders shook every time he did.

He continued for a moment, gritting his teeth. Finally after taking large breath, he gave one final chough. He closed his eyes as he slowly lowered himself back on the ground.

Naruto groaned in annoyance. 'Damn, that hurts! And a freaking lot too!'

He slowly felt himself relax in the soft grass, forgetting the aching of his body and his painful throat. Preferring to enjoy the light breeze that went through his hair and the soft rhythm of his breath. He listened to the soft sound the wind made as it went through the trees and… Naruto made himself stop his thoughts as he felt himself drifting towards unconsciousness again. He had to force himself to open his eyes, preparing himself for the moonlight that would enter his eyes.

However, Naruto hadn't been prepared to be looking directly into the dark eyes of the girl, and tensed as he saw how close she was. He guessed that if he would raise his head enough that they would touch with their foreheads. He blinked as his eyes caught some strange marks on her cheeks.

'What are those?'

Pushing his curiosity on the marks aside, he decided to take a look at her face while he had the chance. A source of light seemed to lighten her face enough for him to look at her, and Naruto noticed that the source seemed to come from… him? He paid no mind to the mysterious light source though, preferring to stare at her face in admiration.

In Naruto's opinion, she was beautiful.

'Is she an angel? That would be possible' Naruto thought, 'maybe that live-saving thingie had gone wrong'. His eyes narrowed by the though. 'Have I gone though that pain, for nothing?!'

Uncomfortable with the thought of being dead, and thinking that it would be worthless to think about the fact if he _really_ _was _death, he continued to stare at the 'angel' above him. Her eyes were a little bit larger than other woman he had met, which gave her a more innocent impression. Her eyes also… no the girl herself, Naruto corrected himself, seemed to give off an aura of warmth and kindness.

He shifted his attention back to her dark eyes that seemed to be glowing a little. A dim blue light seemed to reflect in them; again it was as if it was coming from him… that was strange. Her eyes so were warm and…worried? He shifted uncomfortable as he noticed her worried gaze on him. His eyes noticed a movement on the lower part of her face and then suddenly noticed she was talking to him.

"- istening? Boy, boy…!"

' Eh?' Naruto slowly shifted his eyes back to meet hers.

"Can you see us boy? Can you tell us your name? We are going to try to help you, but you have to keep calm! Breath in… and breath out, breath in slowly… and out…"

Naruto blinked slowly as he slowly progressed the information. 'I'm not calm?' he wondered.

Now she pointed at the fact, he was kind of hyperventilating, wasn't he? Why hadn't he noticed that earlier?

'Damn I'm slow. What did he…she?… whoever he is!... do to me? What _is _happening to me?' Naruto wondered as his eyes glazed over again. He felt panic starting to rise in his chest.

"Boy! Focus!"

Naruto refocused on the girl, who was worriedly looking down on him, and… was she trying to shake him? Why didn't he feel anything?

'What the heck is going on?' he thought desperately.

Suddenly the other teenager appeared next to her, but instead of sitting next to the girl like Naruto expected, he remained standing. He wasn't close enough to make out his features and Naruto had to admit he was kind of curious. Which was normal for a child with his age.

"I thought you said he couldn't hear or see us." he hissed to the girl. Clearly he didn't trust the situation completely.

"I know! He shouldn't! He's still inside his body because I can't tough him. People can't see us when they are still in their body. That's in the book. Don't look at me like that. You know that it shouldn't be possible. Maybe he already died."

"He looks fine to me. And like you said, he's still in his body." The boy paused for a moment. "You think he is being possessed?"

"No… I don't thi-…wait. I do sense a second spiritual energy, but it is weak." Naruto saw the standing teen tense at the information.

' spiritual energy… isn't that a part of chakra?' Naruto vaguely remembered. 'and a second one? '

He was distracted when suddenly a hand appeared in his vision, hovering a little above his face and between his eyes. The girl started to mutter some strange language that Naruto couldn't recognize. He watched with fascination and slowly light seemed to be attracted towards the hand where it covered her skin.

Naruto tensed immediately. What was she doing?

"Don't worry boy, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to check something." The girl tried to calm him down. Naruto reluctantly relaxed, simply because of the fact that he wouldn't be able to stop her anyway. That and angels don't hurt people right?

Naruto stared at the increasing white glowing hand in wonder and felt a strange tugging sensation from inside his belling up to the place where the girl was hovering.

"As far as I know he is not possessed. It would be too difficult for any spirit to keep his spiritual energy hidden in the condition he is now."

She was silent for a moment and looked at the boy. Taking his silence for confusion she continued. "Because he is so close to death, the spiritual energy is easier to sense, and for a spirit more difficult to hide its own."

Naruto could imagine the boy frown, and frowned on his own. What were they talking about? He didn't understand it for any bit.

"Then what kind or whose energy is it?" the boy asked.

The girl turned back to Naruto, and a look of concentration covered her face. Naruto shivered as he felt the tugging increase, while in addition it felt as if she was poking him in the belly too.

Suddenly she tensed and started shaking. The glow stopped and dispersed. He heard the girl gasp as she removed her hand.

"It's him…"

---

The Hokage was not having a good day. 'Not at all' He thought as he worriedly searched for his unofficially younger charge with the help of his crystal ball. Where was that boy? It is already past midnight and he hadn't come home yet.

It all started yesterday (remember it is past midnight). He had woken up with a headache but he had gotten out of bed anyway, since he knew that he had a whole pile of paperwork to do that day. He also would have to make the last preparations for the Kyuubi festival. He remembered sighing by the list of task that had been rolling through his head, and had wondered for the eighty-sixth time that week why his successor just had to have the fate to die just after he had taken the office. He had only been retired for 2 freaking months!

But as a good leader, he had pushed that from his mind and started his paperwork.

An hour before lunchtime he had secretly slipped out of his office to visit Naruto and give him his birthday present. It was a pair of goggles. They were the kind that his mother had worn when she was little. He felt bad with the fact that he was hiding their identities from him, but reasoned that it was for his own safety.

It hadn't been difficult to find out how Naruto felt about the present, since the Hokage found himself, precisely 3.45 seconds after Naruto had seen the goggles, on the floor with a happy ball on energy on top of him. He had let the boy hug him for a moment, patted his shoulder and both had left for lunch.

The Ramen stand was about the only favourite places the boy had. The owners were one of the few that didn't mind him being there, and where even very nice for him. He reminded himself to help them out if they should ever have problems with running the place. After thirty cups of ramen, twenty-eight for Naruto and two for himself, (he still couldn't believe how much the boy could eat.) he had dropped the boy of at his apartment. He hated to leave him alone on his birthday, but he had to get back to work.

That afternoon he had spend doing paperwork again. Paperwork was always boring to do, and this encouraged him to think a lot. There were always some main thoughts that the old man had running trough his head. For example: 'Why do I have the feeling the papers are doubling, every time I finish one paper?' Or 'Why do they let the most powerful ninja do all the paperwork on his own?' and the biggest of all: 'How the hell did Minato spend so much free time doing other things, while he still managed to finish all his paperwork? ' The last thought was always accompanied with a quick glare to a certain photo on the wall and an irritation that he never be able to find out his secret.

'Sneaky, cunning blonds'. But guilt quickly pushed an end to his thought. It had been a joke anyway.

Then suddenly his secretary announced that Naruto was there to see him. He had wondered what he the younger boy had wanted, although had had an idea already, and let him in. Naruto was bored, or so he stated. The Hokage knew that the blond just didn't like to be at home, alone, especially on this birthday. He had said Naruto could help him sort out some minor paperwork, and Naruto did so with much enthusiast. Happy to know, that the Old Man trusted him enough to let him sort out the 'very important' files.

The Sandaime had been shocked with the talent the boy seemed to posses with the cursed pieces of paper from hell as he watched the boy go through them with an amazing speed. Even though he had only told the boy to sort them by the color of the sticker, he automatically seemed to put them in the right order. When the Sandaime had commented this, the blue-eyed boy had just struggled and said that he 'just put them how he thought looked good.' Concluding that it was just in the boy's blood, the Hokage continued his own work, making a note to himself to offer the boy a small job later on.

It was some hours later when the Sandaime had noticed the time. He would have been late if he didn't leave immediately. Time always went by quickly with Naruto around. So he had hurriedly picked his stuff, which had been neatly ordered by Naruto himself, and said Naruto goodbye. With a quick advise to stay out of alleys and away from drunks to Naruto, he left for the festival. But not before sending two of his loyal ANBU to guard him. People would usually leave him alone as soon as ANBU showed themselves. They weren't ANBU for nothing after all. People knew that they were very strong and quick, hence why they would get away.

He had opened the festival like he always did. With a quick story about how the Kyuubi had been 'defeated' by the Yondaime, which he repeated every year. It was a story he told by heart, and which he repeated every year. Word for word, because he secretly thought it was funny to watch people's reaction. They would either try to stay awake while others tried to figure out if they hadn't heard the exact story the year before. The funniest were the people who had a small contest on which would find the first change in the story. Simply said, nobody had won yet. So secretly watching the people, especially the last kind, the Sandaime had continued his story. Only certain 'small factors' (yeah right) were left out of the story, as to not break the law he had made himself, even although he had the authority to. Finishing his story, he had declared that the festival was opened.

He had been expected to stay there, walk around, talk to people and such. But he couldn't help but worry about Naruto. He always did. Still he hadn't heard anything from the ANBU, so he trusted them enough to conclude that everything was fine. But there still had been this feeling nagging inside his stomach that he couldn't seem to lose.

It had been about midnight, and the festival had been slowly coming to an end, when suddenly the one of the ANBU-captain' appeared right next to him. The tension in his body language was enough for the Sandaime to know what was going on. And so, without a word he had grabbed the ANBU's cape and let the man transport him to the destination.

Within a second he stood on the top of an alley, and found the two ANBU, which he had assigned to watch Naruto, unconscious on the roof. Two other ANBU, from which on was a medic nin, were already checking him. The Sandaime had refused himself to show them the huge headache that had just reappeared, instead went straight to business.

"Report" he commanded.

He had gotten it immediately. One of the ANBU had just woken up and stated (a bit ashamed) that a (mere) Jounin had managed to knock them out with some kind of jutsu. The Sandaime knew only one Jounin that was so good in stealth to surpass an Anbu: Kamura Ginjuro (1). The jounin was the last of his family, which had been proud for their skills in infiltration and assassination. The Kyuubi had whipped them out, and the Sandaime cursed himself for letting the Jounin out of his sight. He glared at the water that still laid on the roof. It had rained in the afternoon. That would make it only more difficult to pick up the trial, and with Kamura's ability to hide the scent of someone else too, this was going to be difficult.

"I want the ANBU tracking unit #2 search for Uzumaki Naruto immediately. He is most likely somewhere in or near the forest. If any of you have a grudge towards him, keep it to yourself. I will not allow anyone to harm him in any way, or I will take care of you myself. When he is found, protect him till I get there. Also call for Hatake Kakashi, and tell him that it is urgent and if he does not appear at my office in ten minutes I will make him do D-rank missions for _at least_ a year."

Several ANBU shuddered by threat _'at least'_ of doing D-rank mission for such a long period of time. They hoped Hatake-san would be here soon. They wouldn't even wish something like the to their enemy. The two messengers bowed and the fastest one quickly went to find Hatake, while the other informed the tracking unit.

Sandaime allowed a small soft sight to escape as he turned his attention on the two now conscious ANBU. "You will hand in a report of this evening tomorrow morning." They bowed their head, still a bit ashamed.

He turned to the medic-nin. "Make sure, that they get home alright. If they feel unwell, accompany them to the hospital."

"Any questions?" There were none. He nodded at them. "Make sure to give me any information as soon as possible. I will be in my office. Dismissed."

A chorus of 'Hai Hokage-sama!' was heard as the rest of the ninja disappeared and attended to their own tasks. The Sandaime shunshined back to his office and sat heavily in his chair, but did not give himself the time to relax. Instead he immediately took out his crystal ball. He focused for Naruto's chakra but it didn't give him any direction. He narrowed his eyes in annoyance. 'Damn that Kamara…'

Then a sudden idea hit him. 'Is that possible? ' He wondered, massaging his temples. He sighed as he leaned back and forced himself to go back to one of the memories he had buried from six years ago. He needed to remember it. His face tensed as the horrible memories flashed through his mind. He had to stop himself from falling to deep and immediately focused on the chakra. Kyuubi's demonic chakra. This time the crystal ball did react, but it couldn't pinpoint its exact location. The only thing he could make out was a blurry picture of trees.

He stared sadly to the photo of his decreased friend on the wall.

"I'm sorry Minato. I don't seem to be able to protect him as I had hoped." The man on the photo didn't respond, only stared back at him with a small confident smile on his face. His gaze was stern and proud but the man looked happy and content. It had been one of the best times of his life, a moment that would be frozen on this wall forever.

He went quickly back to the crystal ball and looked for the tracking unit, so he would immediately know when they had picked up Naruto's sent.

He was disappointed when he found that the ANBU tracking team hadn't found anything yet. While keeping an eye on the ANBU's the Sandaime automatically went back to stare at the photo, but staying alert to any chakra signature on the outside. Who would possibly give him the information he needed. He glanced at the clock, estimating that Kakashi had only about one minute left. For his sake he would better be on time, this time.

His eye fell upon the couch, which was situated under the clock. Where his eyes had unconsciously caught a stuffed green toad that was lying underneath a black pillow. Naruto had forgotten his stuffed toad. He stood up from his chair and picked it up, grinning for the first time that evening. Perfect, it was just what he needed.

Now if that damn Cyclops would get his ass over here. Looking at the clock, he began to count down.

Ten seconds left…

Nine seconds left…

Eight seconds left…

Seven seconds left… 'It sure would be a shame to have him do D-rank missions.'

Six seconds,,,

The Sandaime turned back to the open window, and kept counting down easily even without the clock.

Five seconds … 'And then to think that about seven years ago he would be an hour early'.

Four seconds

Three… 'Maybe I did give him not enough time. Maybe the messenger couldn't find him.' He wondered.

Two…

On-

A poof of smoke appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the room. Once dispersed Hatake Kakashi could be seen standing in the centre.

"Yo Hokage-sama. You sure know how to threaten someone."

"No times for jokes Kakashi, I want you to summon your dogs for me as-" He quickly turned his attention back to the crystal ball. 'That sign that they just had given each other' he recognized. They had found the trial!

"Naruto is in danger Kakashi. Follow me now immediately." Kakashi's eye widened.

Within a second they had disappeared.

'Great, why do such things always happen when I'm having a free day.' Kakashi thought lazily.

It was not that he cared though.

Being ninja was his life.

---

It took less then a minute for the Hokage to appear next to the tracking unit. Kakashi still was surprised with how fast the old man could be. They had hunted down the trail quickly, not wasting a time. Though the ninja's didn't go too quickl, making sure they wouldn't accidentally lose the trail. Within three minutes they smelled something more… Blood.

Without a need for command they all went full speed. Which was very, very fast. Within a minute they entered a clearing. Karuma could be seen with his back turned to them holding something against a tree. Correction he was holding someone against a three.

"Stop this immediately!" was shouted by one of the ANBU. But it had already had been too late. Time seemed to slow down as blood streamed out the of Naruto's wound. His eyes unfocussed and his body started to slump down.

In the same slow-motion, the Hokage slipped a kunai out of one of the hunters pouches, which he had calculated to be faster than taking one of his own hidden one's, and threw it to the cursed man.

The Hokage knew that Ginjuro had the ability to sense such incoming attacks, but was surprised that the man didn't do anything. A small drop of water reflected in the moonlight as it felt down from the man's face.

That was enough for the Hokage to know that he had let them.

Only one second had passed for the kunai to cut across the large clearing and reach the man's head. He was dead immediately.

"Naruto!"

---

They were running full speed towards the hospital with Naruto in the Hokage's arms. He was bleeding and had his pulse was fading quickly. The only way that he could be saved was if they would by miracle meet Tsunade. Or if they by another miracle reached the hospital fast enough and he somehow would make it through the day. The Kyuubi might help healing the boy, but even the Hokage wondered if the broken seal would allow it to heal the boy to such an extent.

The broken seal. The seal had been broken, and the Kyuubi wasn't free. The seal was killing the host and it both before it would be able to.

And yet, they knew that the demon was the only one that could save the boy.

His curse would be his only chance.

The tension within the group increased by every roof they jumped on.

"Ol…an.. th.. ou?" the old man had nearly dropped the young boy, when he hear him mutter something.

It seemed that he wasn't the only one surprised as one of the ANBU nearly tripped his feet while landing on another rooftop.

Then hell began.

The uncurious blond suddenly started screaming in pain and the group stopped immediately. The Hokage's eyes widened as he suddenly felt a chakra envelop the boy from within. Within a second he laid the boy down, quickly yet gently, and just in time. Yet he couldn't save himself from being burned completely. He hissed as he held his burnt hand, caused by the little demonic chakra that came from the boy. All the ANBU tensed and reached for their weapons, but one gesture form their leader, stopped their actions immediately.

The boy continued to scream uncontrollably, and the ninja couldn't help but feel sympathy against the boy. The waves of chakra started the throb and the blood that flowed out of his wounds started to spread out over his skin.

It looked as if he was being eaten from the inside out. The skin around his belly started to peel off yet the seal didn't, and blood replaced the skin, before regaining some kind of structure. The boy his hands became claws and the eyes the boy had opened were blood red and slid.

The Hokage felt helpless for the first time in many years.

Then the pattern of the demonic chakra changed, and started swirling around him, as more and more chakra seeped out form the seal. A demonic fox took is shape and the ninja's shivered as it looked at them. Meanwhile the boy couldn't be seen anymore by the amount of red chakra that was swirling around him.

The Hokage watched worriedly and started to prepare for a fight. He knew that the fox shouldn't be able to escape, but he wasn't going to be unprepared if it somehow would.

The ANBU noticed this and took their stances. Suddenly some other ninja added to their group, and did the same, looking horrified and some even frozen by the chakra.

Then suddenly the chakra dispersed and disappeared.

As had Naruto.

The only thing that broke the silence was the sound of kunai hitting the roof tiles.

---

The girl was still shaking as she grasped her own hand.

"Its… He's the…" she muttered horrified.

"What?" the boy asked, sounding worried.

"He's… sensei's son! He's the Jinchuuriki of…" she start shaking her head, as if she tried to get rid of bad memories.

" He's Naruto?" the boy asked incredulous.

Naruto's eyes widened. This seemed only to confirm the boy his question, and his posture seemed to relax instantly, as if he knew what was going on. Naruto had expected that he started asking questions, but instead, the boy sat next to the girl. She was still shaking and hugged him as soon as he sat down. He just let her and started whispering things to her, soothingly, which Naruto couldn't hear. After a minute the boy stopped and looked down at her.

"You're ok now?"

" Yeah I'm fine…" the girl said and pulled away form the boy. "sorry." She mumbled.

"Forget it… the first time is the hardest." Before realizing something. "Oh crap. Sensei is not gonna like this."

"I know… "

" How did he get so much spiritual energy, anyway?" the boy asked.

"I don't know. It true his spiritual energy is to big for… ah man, this is too confusing. I guess we should just ask sensei." The girl said, voicing her thoughts.

Naruto frowned in annoyance. 'They are talking as if I'm not even here!'

Naruto saw that the boy made a vague movement with his head, which had to be a nod in agreement. "Yeah, your right. Should we leave him here? I don't think that boy is strong enough to-"

A voice, although a bit hoarse and weak, interrupted the boys' sentence. "Can you stop ignoring me already? I can hear you perfectly fine you know."

The teenagers looked at Naruto in wonder, before smiling a bit uneasily. 'I'm not used to people hearing us.' Thought the boy, scratching the back of his head.

'I think we should be a bit more careful with our words.' The girl thought as she to smiled a bit sheepishly at the boy.

"You know what… Let's try to send him back!" the boy suddenly exclaimed. The girl's eyes widened.

"You know that isn't allowed, O-"

"Since when do I follow the rules, R-" the boy interrupted her. He was more stating it that asking her.

"Fine, but everything is your fault if something goes wrong." She too interrupted him, already knowing that he would say that.

"Whatever"

"He's also reacting to slow to our reactions anyway. I think he is nearing the end. Do you think we will be able to push him back?" the girl asked her comrade.

Naruto's eye slowly twitched. They were talking as if he wasn't there! Again!

"The least we can do is try right?" the boy said confidently.

Naruto slowly lost focus on the teenagers. His eyes were starting to itch. He suddenly saw the teenagers fade out. Then as suddenly as they had disappeared, they reappeared as if nothing happened. His eyes widened in shock. What was that? He tiredly rubbed his eyes, as if to make sure there was nothing in it. He opened them again and stared at the teenagers again… who had disappeared? He tried to listen to their voices, but he couldn't hear them. He narrowed his eyes in confusion and rubbed his eyes.

'Where did they go?'

His eyes started itching again, and he growled in annoyance as he started to rub his eyes instead, trying to get the itch away.

"- old you, he can't see or hear us anymore. It must have been a coincidence." His eyes snapped open when he heard the voices again, looking for the source.

They were still their, as if nothing had happened.

"His eyes stopped glo-" She turned back and stared at Naruto's eyes. "Hey they are back again!"

Naruto wanted to ask some questions, but he felt his eyes dropping.

"Hey brat! Can you see us?" Naruto's attention turned to the boy, when he heard his voice. The boy had clearly gotten over his shock, and sat down next to the girl. His voice sounded very cheerful.

Naruto gave a small yawn. "I don't even know who you are" was the only thing he could mutter, not wanting to give any information about himself to these strangers.

"Good point. I'm O-" and once again, he was interrupted.

"Naruto!"

**--- --- ---**

**A/N (Please read!)**

Finally! Another chappie finished.

Where did Naruto go?

What is wrong with his eyes?

Am I doing something wrong? Is there any way I can make my story better?

So many questions! :D

So few answers D: …. Yet :D

I didn't really get much reviews (4), but **I felt bad **about the thought of not continuing it, for my four nice reviews.

But please **do** let me know what you think of it till now (again). ;) Spend a quick **40 seconds**, and you made me really happy.

**So Please Review! ^^**

**Even if you did already ;)**

And thanks for reading!

**Sjezza**

(1) Its just a name I picked out, no hidden meaning or anything. Though you may make your own if you like ;)

p.p.s If you have any suggestions for the story, just review. I will take a look at it!

**p.p.s**. For the ones who already read this once and got a alert. Sorry I changed some mistakes.


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